∞
Boasters Welcome
The Lord’s Table is a table of glory. God invites boasters to eat and drink with Him, boasters who have repented of boasting in themselves and who now boast in Christ alone.
We offer nothing to a self-sufficient God or His Son. In fact, God calls the low, the despised, the foolish, and the weak of this world for Himself. This was “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29).
∞
Exalting Dignity
We don’t use it much any more, maybe because there isn’t much any more, but dignity is a great word. Dignity refers to a quality or state worthy of honor and respect. It describes a man with worth, someone with nobility and gravitas and glory. True dignity can’t be reached via shortcuts and, once there, dignity acts in a certain way to maintain itself.
Our weekly corporate confess of sin is entirely about dignity.
∞
The Path of Life
Every Lord’s day we gather as Christians to celebrate Christ’s historical, bodily resurrection. If He has not risen, if His resurrection is a myth or a scam, our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. Unless He lives, we cannot face tomorrow, let alone eternity.
In Psalm 16:10, David looks forward to the glad security that the Savior’s flesh would not see corruption. His soul would not be abandoned to Sheol, to death.
∞
Not the One They Wanted
Israel rejoiced in John the Baptist’s lamp-light for a while (John 5:35). Many Jews saw the straight path from Baptist’s ministry to the Messiah’s coming. They were anticipating the Messiah’s arrival, expecting Him to defeat their enemies and to share His kingdom with them. They couldn’t wait for the Messiah to change their lives. But John lost his luster when he kept talking about the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
∞
THIQ Obedience
Most Christians probably don’t need another acronym for our spiritual walk, and yet a well-applied acronym can slow down unraveling strings when we’re in the fray. YMMV but, at our house, we’ve written a certain acronym on our “heinie remindie” tool (AKA, “the rod”) to remind us all about obedience.
What is obedience? Oftentimes a child who asks the question knows the definition, he’s filibustering to save his fanny. In order to avoid the need for a word study in the heat of a disobedience, we talk about obedience that is THIQ: total, happy, immediate, and quick.
∞
The Author of Life
The apostles John and Peter were in the temple when a man, lame from birth, asked for them alms. Instead of silver or gold, Peter told the him to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (Acts 3:6). The man was healed and began walking, leaping, and praising God, which earned Peter and John an attentive audience.
Peter began to preach and, among other things, told the Jews that they “killed the Author of life” (Acts 3:15).
∞
Tebow in Babylon
Tebow in Babylon ➔ Ross Douthat for The New York Times on Tim Tebow’s trade to the “Babylon-upon-the-Hudson” Jets:
Why is Tim Tebow such a fascinating and polarizing figure? Not just because he claims to be religious; that claim is commonplace among football stars and ordinary Americans alike. Rather, it’s because his conduct — kind, charitable, chaste, guileless — seems to actually vindicate his claim to be in possession of a life-altering truth.
∞
All of Us
Does Jesus have all of us? All we are and all we have is from Him and should be utilized to honor Him. Last week our congregation practiced, with a low grade physical awkwardness, kneeling during our prayer of confession. Most importantly Jesus should have our humble hearts but, as many experienced, something is different when He gets our humble knees, too.
I’ve come to a personal conviction that when we sing songs or read Psalms in our corporate worship that refer to raising hands, I am going to do it.
∞
We Shouldn't Be Careless
We emphasize that the Lord’s Table is a banquet, a feast, a celebration. We emphasize the joy of communion, God’s joy over us and our corporate joy with Him. Jesus made peace by the blood of His cross and reconciled us in His body of flesh by His death in order to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before Him (Colossians 1:20-22). Christ’s finished sacrifice is a reason to rejoice.
∞
Out of Place
There is an uneasiness we deal with every Lord’s day. We want to worship. We love God and we know that He is our good. We know that His Word reveals that He’s glad to meet with us and to bless us. But we are sinners. We do not deserve to fellowship with Him. We come into His presence as those who are out of place, as those who are humbled before His majestic holiness.
∞
Display Purposes Only
If you sat down at a dinner table, what might cause you to get up after a while unsatisfied? There might be nothing on the table, no food to eat. There might be no one else at the table, no fellowship to enjoy. There might be a family tradition passed down for generations that strictly forbids anyone from eating, the food is for display purposes only. Or, there may be no reason to eat because you ruined your appetite with junk an hour earlier.
∞
Getting in Shape
Worship is dangerous, especially to the status quo and especially to our pride.
Of course, worship is inescapable. We were made to be admiring creatures, always looking for greatness to praise. We can’t avoid it; we will worship someone or something whether or not we’ve found true greatness. Worship of the true God gives meaning to life. Because we were made in God’s image, better views of Him show us more what we’re to be.
∞
Little Miss Red Shoes
Little Miss Red Shoes ➔ I don’t always read Challies but, when I visit his site, I typically scan through his A La Carte links. A week ago he started with a post at Paradox Uganda about a young girl in Africa whom the author named “Little Miss Red Shoes.” She’s nine. She had gone to the police and then to the “casualty department” at the hospital to report being raped by a 15 year-old neighbor.
∞
What It's Good For
Our fellowship with God comes on very specific terms. Peace must be established between two parties that were previously enemies. In our case, the defiance was entirely with us. Our enmity must be defeated and our rebellion accounted for. Communion also requires a certain likeness between parties. In our case, we must walk in the light as He is in the light in order to enjoy fellowship. God’s Word, therefore, is crucial if we’re to know the terms, if we’re to respond to follow the light, if we’re to understand the sacrifice of Christ that establishes the peace.
∞
Two Great Things
Two great things go together: the great commandment and the great commission. They do not compete with each other, they compliment each other (and they do so even better than peanut butter and chocolate). Obedience to the great commandment makes obedience to the great commission a no-brainer. Obedience to the great commission requires seeing others become obedient to the great commandment.
So evangelism and worship meet in the disciple-making process. That’s why worship can have an evangelistic impact.
∞
Training for Hypocrisy
Words matter. When there are no words, there is no clarity. When words come from an empty heart, there is no integrity. When words are inconsistent with behavior, this is hypocrisy.
As Christians, we must sing and speak words. Our faith, our worship depends on words. We cannot be clear about the gospel, about Christ, about salvation, about His glory without words. Even if we have to borrow it, we need language to thank Him.
∞
They Belong Together
When we come to confession before the Lord, should we think more about our sin or His holiness? Should we think more about our sin or the sacrifice of His Son? Should we think more about our sin or His grace? The answer is obviously both but, I would argue that even when we confess our sin, our focus is on God and not ourselves.
Apart from His holiness, we would have no standard by which to examine ourselves.
∞
Dust Sure Does Have Problems
God is compassionate and He knows our frame. He knows that we are but dust (Psalm 103:14) and yet, dust sure does have a lot of problems. Even as His children we are easily discouraged, hungry, tired, and fearful. That is why He invites us to share a meal of communion with Him and it is why sharing this meal as an assembly every week is so valuable.
Many of us have trouble.
∞
Enculturation Centers
All schools are religious schools. All schools teach worldview. All schools have a philosophy of education. All schools have creeds, liturgy, and dogma. All schools have orthodoxy and doctrine. In short, all schools - public, private, parochial, and home–are enculturation centers, and none are neutral.
—Bradley Heath, Millstones and Stumbling Blocks
∞
Better Than a Thousand Elsewhere
The sons of Korah wrote eleven songs that were recognized into the canon of Israel’s worship including Psalm 84.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
(Psalm 84:1–2)
The song celebrates God’s “dwelling place,” His “courts.” In other words, the Psalm expresses delight over God welcoming His people into His presence.
∞
Confession Songs
The book of Psalms include some of the deepest, most desperate confessions of sin found in Scripture. The poetic lyrics, and presumably the key of the music, communicate with precise form both the heaviness of conviction and the relief of forgiveness. No man is permitted into God’s presence unless his sin is pardoned, so it is not surprising to find these confession songs as part of the congregations’s worship.
King David, a man known for his musical skill and for his disastrous sin, wrote in Psalm 32:
∞
On Our Side
Eating at the Lord’s table week by week ought to feed, foster, and fortify our faith that God is on our side.
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31–32)
In a series of rhetorical questions, God, through Paul, lifts up our hearts to trust Him.
∞
Two Strings to Tune
Liturgy is an effective teacher. The way we do things and the order in which we do them shapes us and shows others about the worship of God. Because we are souls with bodies, the outward parts of our worship matter.
Likewise, because we are whole persons, because our thinking and our acting are necessarily connected, it is dishonest to conceal heart problems with religious ceremony.
God gave Israel instructions for how to draw near to Him.
∞
Too Close for Some
The Lord’s supper is a meal of peace and provision. Not only do we commune by eating His food, we must eat His flesh to live. Jesus said,
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
∞
True Glory Isn't Grabby
I can’t recommend the whole book by any means, but this paragraph pokes grabby authority in the eye by observing that God gets more glory by glorifying His people. A true authority bestows honor, he isn’t threatened when surrounded by others with dignity.
If God alone is all glorious, then no one else is glorious at all. No exaltation may be admitted for any other creature, since this would endanger the exclusive prerogative of God.